This invention relates to sandbag or earth bag construction systems, to construction methods using sandbags or earth bags and to sandbags or earth bags, particularly mine backfill bags, for use in such systems and methods.
The earth bags and earth bag construction system of the invention can be applied in numerous applications, including erosion control, flood control, earth structure construction and remediation and even stand alone construction, as will be described in this specification. The invention finds particular application, however, in the placing of backfill in mines for mine support and mine ventilation purposes and it will be described largely with reference to such an application. It will be appreciated that these descriptions are purely illustrative and are not intended to limit the invention to any of the specific examples.
The terms “earth bag”, “sand bag”, “earth bag construction” and “sand bag construction” are used for convenience to indicate construction elements and methods of construction in which the basic elements of construction are filled bags. However, the use of these terms is not intended to limit the invention to the use of earth-like or sandy fill materials or even to particulate fill materials. It may be that the fill materials used in earth bag construction systems are typically constituted by earth-like or sandy particulate fill materials, but it will be appreciated that non-earth-like materials or even non-particulate materials can be used as fill materials, such as setting- or non-setting gels and foams. In certain applications it might even be possible to use a liquid such as water or a non-drying slurry as the fill material.
The construction system of this invention lends itself to the construction of structures in which one or more earth bags are first laid down on a working surface and additional earth bags are then layered or stacked on the bags so laid down. The term “stacking” implies substantially horizontal working surfaces and vertical, stacked structures, but this is not necessarily correct. The earth bags of the invention can be laid on a working surface, such as an inclined slope in a mine, that deviates substantially from straight and level. The construction system of this invention can also be used to construct walls and surfaces that deviate substantially from perpendicular relatively to a conventional geometrical horizon line. In addition, whilst the construction system lends itself to the construction of substantially vertical wall-like structures, the system can also be used for the construction of earth bag structures that are adapted to be overlaid side-by-side or nearly side-by-side, such as in a corbelled stack, over a horizontal or inclined surface or structure to be controlled or remediated.
In each case, however, the earth bags of the invention are laid down on a working surface.
It is an object of this invention to provide an earth bag construction system for mine backfill applications in particular and for erosion control, construction and numerous other applications in general. The particulate material bags of the invention find application, particularly, as mine support systems and, generally, as replacements for the earth or sandbags used in earth bag and sandbag structures, whether permanent structures or emergency structures, such as flood retaining walls.